


Serenity

by ReceiverofWisdom



Category: Claymore
Genre: F/F, claymorevalentine2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 08:10:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13677720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReceiverofWisdom/pseuds/ReceiverofWisdom
Summary: Gift to imakasas for the claymore valentines 2018 prompt. A slice of life modern au.REUPLOADED, posted from a wrong document that cut off in the middle.





	Serenity

Ilena could smell the sun. She could bask in its warmth near a pool tide of a world that she, in some strange way, felt that she once knew. In her dreams, she could smell everything. The musk of the lake down a ways, the lush and bountiful field behind her, and the wild embers that bloomed where she wandered and the flowing peace that beckoned. She was alone, as she often was, but there was a formidable sense of contentment. Sometimes, waves of regret encased her, from a time beyond her. She tried to focus on it, tried to remember just _why_  the guilt ate away at such desired peace, but the wooden rapping was distracting.  
  
\---  
  
Pulling herself back into a state of awakening was instantaneous, once Ilena remembered just what the sound was, and connected it to the reality of the world around her.  
  
Very, very few individuals bothered her, and few less attested themselves at her door. She shoved on the nearest shirt, trying to make herself seem somewhat presentable, and she swore if it was Noel again –  
  
“What’s this?” Ilena rubbed the sleep haze from her eyes, still, after trudging her way to the front door of her apartment. She could still smell the lingering dream breeze.  
  
It smelled like Teresa.  
  
“Valentine’s Day. Don’t tell me you really live so far under this rock that you’ve forgotten.” Teresa offered her a winning smile, electing to hold onto the small bamboo plant, given the fact Ilena still stared vacantly at the object. Wiggling it side to side a little seemed to send the proper silent message, as Ilena blinked from her trance and hummed, stepping to the side to allow the other woman in. She closed the door firmly behind her, and relocked the top latch.  
  
Ilena turned on her heel, assessing the minimal choice of apparel she had elected to open the door in. As if she had not peered through the door’s scope, firstly.  
  
Paranoia had kept her alive and well, thus far.  
  
Teresa stood at the center of the quaint room, pondering, selective eyes running over the array of things Ilena had come to collect.  
  
Namely, more plants, a waterfall decoration, and anything that made her home closer to the wilds she loved so. A bookshelf held closely knit texts and stacks where stray books did not find their place among the others. Teresa wandered forward, placing the small plant on the center table of the room.   
  
From where Ilena stood, she could make out soft fabric woven throughout the bamboo sticks, ensuring their stability as they grew together.  
  
Not unlike their small, close group of friends.  
  
Teresa had, as she did shortly after they first met, treated Ilena’s space as her own. More respectfully  than her own domain. She had planted herself on the plush sofa in front of a broad-screened television that offered wonderfully high definition view of what Ilena had elected to set up. A quiet nature scene with the sounds of water in the background.  
  
It was a gift, last holiday, and they had spent the night watching whatever movies Teresa had brought along. The excitement displayed had left Ilena feeling warm and pleasant inside. The feeling returned when she recalled her dream. Until she then recalled that, yes, the holiday had been no concern of hers, and therefore she had nothing to show for it.  
  
“Ugh, come sit down with me. I’ve been at work all night.” Teresa whined as she popped her head over the edge of the sofa she had slouched into, pressed brows beseeching her presence.  
  
Ilena crossed the threshold, went to sit, and was promptly swallowed into an embrace and pulled on top of the other with a grunt. She had to wiggle and writhe before she found a more comfortable position atop a lounging Teresa, a feat made difficult when her captor was at ease and unwilling to budge.  
  
“Wiggle worm. You have the calmest place to be in.”  
  
“Is that why you’re here so often?” Ilena snarked amongst her struggling.  
  
Teresa gave something akin to a snort, snuggling down further, allowing Ilena to at least tilt her head against her chest. Reminiscent of a pillow, Ilena seemed pacified.  
  
“You can’t deny the nice view you have here. Especially the one on top of me.”   
  
“Oh shut up.”   
  
A pillow to the face hardly silence the giggles spilling from Teresa’s lips, even if they were muffled.   
  
After several minutes of simply lying there in quiescence, she felt Teresa’s lithe fingers threading through her long, long hair, hitting the rare sleep snags and combing easily through them. With such a magic touch, Ilena was shortly sprawled out over the other woman like a languid cat, body fluid and east as the hair combing melded away into soft touches along her upper shoulders, bare in the dark tanktop adorned.  
  
“You’re so sensitive,” Ilena heard the other blonde whisper, and were she not so relaxed, she would have planted another pillow in her face. At some point, Teresa had tossed the soft weapon across the room, far beyond her reach.  
  
Upon daring to glance up, she was met with an unreadable smile. Certainly a pleasant one, as Teresa brushed across the curvature of her ear and the older woman twitched atop her.  
  
“You look exhausted,” Ilena reached up until she could dance the tips of her own digits along her visitor’s collar bone, grazing against her impossibly smooth skin.  
  
“Twelve hours and then some does that. You’re bright red.” Teresa touched her ears again, and Ilena batted them away, feeling the heat rising to her face.  
  
“Did you _just_  get off of work?”  
  
A glance away confirmed her suspicions as Ilena leaned up, barely brushing her lips to the others, her breath a whisper below the steady sound of synthetic rainfall. “That’ll be my treat to you then. You’re getting pampered.”  
  
The smile that spread wider across the others lips settled it, and Ilena was up and across the room in seconds. Her apartment was hardly anything special. Isolated, secure, and with minimal interference from neighbors. It was in essence all she could ask for.  
  
She ran the kettle, lingered long enough to properly make the tea, and meandered back into the main room to see Teresa at a half-doze, one of her bigger books cracked open just where she had left off. A science fiction book, if she recalled. The beginning was drab, but the progression had ensnared her. Likely one of Priscilla's that had been loaned to her.  
  
"If you lose my place I will have to end you."  
  
"That's more dramatic than the last three pages."  
  
Ilena rolled her eyes and set the mug down on the coffee table, happy to coddle her own as she slipped back beside the other, who sat up with interest at the beverage. Ilena leaned into her side and the white noise slipped through the passage of mutual company.  
  
"Any word?"  
  
"If they want to keep paying my bills, and I don't see anyone lurking about, I can't say that I care in the slightest. Seems like the organization has forgotten about me."  
  
"How horrible," Teresa cooed, taking a sip. "You're finally free."  
  
"The special forces was all I really knew. I am... Not sure what to do now, really."  
  
"Coffee shop?"  
  
"Please, that's cliche. And far too social. Do you miss it?"  
  
Teresa pretended to think for a moment, earning a tiresome glance from her companion. "Mm... Nope."  
  
It did not surprise Ilena in the slightest. Even in their earliest training days, Teresa had never taken it seriously. It would almost be a pity, had Ilena not grown to loath the Operations. Teresa had easily surpassed the rankings, easily became someone many were jealous of, and many admired her capabilities. It was unfortunate that they needed to conceal themselves from greater dangers seeking them out. She had little intention of being taken out by these seekers, and Teresa certainly held the same sentiment highly.  
  
It was not a topic she liked to linger on, though passingly brought up.  
  
"Come sit here," Ilena invited, gesturing to the floor and parting her legs.  
  
Knowing what to expect, Teresa sat the beverage aside and shifted to the floor, hunched forward as the other woman started at her shoulders, working the sore muscle and earning a pleasant groan as Teresa dipped her head forward in submission.  
  
"You use your hands too well. Ever considered being a masseuse?"  
  
"Hardly. Sit still."  
  
Teresa accomplished the opposite, leaning back and tipping her head. Gently, she reached up, trailing a finger along Ilena's jaw until she felt a shudder, and with a tug to those long golden tresses, coaxed Ilena downwards, her voice a whisper.  
  
"Guess what, grump."  
  
Ilena did not _do_  'guessing'. She quirked an unimpressed brow until she was pulled down close, chapped lips meeting hers, followed by several peppered at her lips and jaw until she twitched and writhed, bumps rising on her skin with the sultry look she was given afterwards; an unspoken invitation for more as a hand crept along her thigh.


End file.
